High North Dialogue 2027 will take place on 14–15 April in Bodø, and we hope to see you there.

Also in this edition: a new policy brief on how much China is really doing in the Arctic, and how young Arctic entrepreneurs use AI to reach customers as far away as Japan.

Plus: op-eds on the EU’s new Arctic strategy, the ArcticNext 2026 winners, and more.

Save the date: High North Dialogue 2027

High North Dialogue 2027 takes place on 14–15 April at Quality Hotel Ramsalt in Bodø.

The theme is Leading Change in the European Arctic.

Our flagship conference brings together stakeholders from across the Arctic to share experiences and discuss sustainable development in the region. This year, 303 participants from 33 countries joined us, and more than half were under 40.

We look forward to welcoming you to Bodø in April!

Policy brief: How much is China really doing in the Arctic?

In 2022, NATO warned that China was investing tens of billions of dollars in the Arctic. A study last year found that many of those projects never happened.

In a new policy brief for the Egmont Institute in Brussels, PhD Research Fellow Ahad Hadian (photo above) argues that announced projects get far more attention than what actually gets built.

His main recommendation: the EU and European Arctic states should keep a shared register of Chinese Arctic projects, showing which are proposed, paused, cancelled or actually built.

How AI could make it easier for young people to build companies in the North: New report

For the Arctic Business Index report, PhD Research Fellow Sakib Jawhar (photo above) surveyed 22 young Arctic entrepreneurs. 82 percent use AI every day, and more than 60 percent use it to automate parts of their daily work.

Jawhar believes AI could make it easier for young people to build companies in the north instead of moving south.

Marine Spark X is one example. The small team is bringing a marine calcium product to South Korea and Japan, and used AI to build its websites and campaign materials in weeks instead of months.

Electricity data idea won ArcticNext 2026

Students in Bodø, St. John’s and Joensuu spent 16–18 October working on real problems facing Arctic communities. More than 80 people took part.

Finnish team NSES won with Rytmi, which uses everyday electricity data to spot early signs of cognitive decline in older people. CHAR-izards from Canada came second with 3D ice printing, and KIPINÄ from Finland came third with a job-matching app.

In Bodø, exchange students Nikolay Willhauk, Nolan Lagadec and Philéas Gohel built FrostGrid, a tool to help municipalities decide where to clear snow first for wheelchair users.

Apply now: What role will the EU play in the Arctic economy?

Graduate students and young professionals can apply for a free scenarios workshop in Brussels on 30 November, held alongside the Arctic Futures Symposium.

Participants will build scenarios for the EU’s role in Arctic economic development over the next 10 to 15 years. The results will be presented on stage at the symposium on 2 December.

There are 25 places, and participants cover their own travel and accommodation. Apply by 17 November.

Op-eds: The EU has a new Arctic strategy. Now what?

The EU’s new Arctic strategy, Europe’s Northern Neighbourhood, came out on 20 October. In The Arctic Institute, Andreas Raspotnik asks whether calling it a strategy changes anything when the EU budget still has no separate line for the Arctic.

In High North News and Aftenposten (in Norwegian), he and Andreas Østhagen argue that Norway gets a bigger role in the strategy, but no formal say in how it is put into practice.

Before the launch, he and political scientist Eda Ayaydin wrote in Le Monde (in French) that the Arctic is becoming European. They argue the new security set-up in the north should open up to European states outside the EU.

Raspotnik also discussed the strategy with Swiss broadcaster .

Thank you, Reykjavík

Also a big thank you to everyone who joined our panels, stopped by our stand or came to our reception at the Arctic Circle Assembly on 8–10 October.

More than 20 of us from Nord University made the trip. Together with partners, we organised three public panels on thriving Arctic communities, EU Arctic policy and the role of non-Arctic states, and co-hosted business roundtables on youth entrepreneurship and food innovation.

Our reception at Harpa brought together 140 researchers, diplomats and partners from across the Arctic. Thank you for the good conversations. We hope to continue them soon.